“@hallak: #Syria: Waiting For The Turk To Decide. #Turkey @WashingtonPoint”

May 28, 2012: The Syrian government is having an increasingly hard time maintaining the façade of affluence and normalcy for its core supporters. Most of these people live in Damascus and Aleppo, but these two cities are the scene of more and more rebel attacks, anti-government demonstrators and Islamic terror bombings. This has not been good for morale, and a growing number of Assad supporters (at least those most likely to face retaliation) are planning their escapes. Eleven Lebanese Shia, kidnapped by Sunni gunmen in Syria last week, are being held for ransom. The rebels want to get the Syrian government to release imprisoned Syrian rebels. The Lebanese were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran. Hezbollah announced that it does not have, and never has had, gunmen in Syria. But numerous known Hezbollah men have been seen in Syria during the last year, some openly helping ...